Four Spacemen
by oncoming-neatly-folded-swan
Summary: The Doctor and McKenzie visit London and run into some old friends, but of course they turned up at just the right time. (Episode 5 in the series. crossed with the idea I had that Torchwood is now Jack, Martha and Mickey, they get help from Unit, also Warehouse 13... but that's for future episodes... )
1. Chapter 1

"Ok, push that down!" The Doctor ran behind McKenzie and pointed to a lever. She grabbed it and held it down with her left hand. The TARDIS shook violently, throwing them around the console room, "Then count how many times she pulls us to the left!"

"Three!" she shouted back to him.

"Actually it was three and a half," he shrugged, "But no matter, it is your first time on your own!"

McKenzie sighed, "How can it be a half?"

"Not a big as pulling to the left, but not as little as not pulling at all!"

"Oh for–" McKenzie through her arms up in the air.

The TARDIS started making an angry scraping sound.

"Right, that sound means you were too slow–"

"Because you were jibbering!"

"Point taken, cut down on the jibbering, just pull the lever again, count the pulls to the left and press the blue button on the right the same amount of times!"

McKenzie did the same again and found the two blue buttons, she pressed the one on the right three times.

"How do you press a button three and a half–"

"No, no! The Right!"

"That is the right!"

"No, it's the left of the console!" he showed her the line where the console joined together and the two blue buttons were either side of it, one on the right or _left_ of the console and one on the left or _right_ of the console. The Doctor pressed the buttons for her while clinging to the console.

McKenzie glared at him while still holding the lever down.

He grabbed the console screen and tightly held on to it, his eyes speedily scanning over the readings "Right! Now, with your foot, hold that lever to the left!" he pointed to a lever just out of her reach.

"Do you mean the right left or the wrong left?" she said as sarcastically as she could whilst clinging for dear life.

"Oh come on McKenzie, keep up! The _left_ , left!" he shouted, pointing to the right as he continued to read the screen.

She looked over to the lever, which was just out of her reach, and back up at him, "You can't be serious!"

"Quickly!" he snapped.

She balanced on the tip of her boot and stretched her leg over the console.

"Almost!" he said.

"I've got shorter legs than you!"

"Never been a problem for you before!" he said, obviously meaning something else.

She sighed and did a small hop, hooking her foot around the lever and pulling it down, the console sparked making her jump. The Doctor ran around to the opposite side of the console.

"Right, when it does that you have to let go and hit this bit here with this hammer!"

She ran around to the other side of the console and hit it with the hammer, "I swear you're making this up!"

"I'm not making it up, you've travelled with me before, seen me fly before. And besides she's meant to be flown by 6 people!"

"And now there's only two of us so you have to accommodate–"

"I'm sorry, who here passed their TARDIS exam?"

"Neither of us!"

The TARDIS shook them about and stopped abruptly; throwing them, laughing into a heap on the floor.

"Oh right... Yeah. Almost forgot about that." The Doctor said, rolling onto his back.

"I don't think she likes me..." she rolled over to face him.

"What makes you think that?"

"I dunno... Just a feeling I get when I'm in here ever since... well you know..." she blushed.

"But anyone would be jealous of that." he smiled his charming smile.

"Shut up..." she rolled her eyes and got up "He should just be waiting for us, right?"

The Doctor got up and they headed to the door.

"He should be yes, we should be back just a minute or two after we left."

"Alright, London it is then." she straightened herself out before leaving.

They stepped out into the busy square and The Doctor locked the TARDIS doors.

"Should we wait for him here?" asked McKenzie.

"Nah... we can have a look around can't we?" he smiled and pulled her through all of the people, "Have you ever been to London before?"

"No... but I've heard a lot about it. I learned about it in school. That and a lot of other places and planets. I loved universal geography"

"Did you hear about any of the–"

"Yes I did... from you. Well, your memories. The hundreds of times you've saved this city, this planet."

"Well, I wouldn't say hundreds" he said modestly. McKenzie laughed.

They sat down on the edge of the fountain, people rushed around them taking photos of the architecture, a tourist group leader yelled to his group and small children chased the pigeons.

McKenzie rubbed the back of her neck and felt her key chain, she took hold of the key and held it up admiring how it glinted in the sunlight, "Thank you... Again... for this." she smiled, "But..."

"What?" he asked, turning to face her.

"I dunno, I was just thinking... Why me...?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he smiled as his cheeks almost reddened.

"That could have happened to anyone..." she rolled her eyes.

"But it didn't, it happened to you." he took her hand and gently stroked it.

"Why though...?"

"I don't know why, I just know who." he smiled.

She sighed, "Official _companion_." she leaned on him, "It's got a nice ring to it."

He put his arm around her, "I think you're a little more than that..."

"I suppose..." she laughed "You've given me a key to your flat, I feel like you should meet my parents or something"

"Oh... I don't do families. Much too domestic. Did I ever tell you I been slapped by multiple mothers?"

"No, those memories must have slipped my mind. It's obvious why though"

"Is it?"

"Well, you're the man they warned their daughters about aren't you?" she raised her eyebrow at him, "The handsome stranger, promising excitement and danger and endless wonder! And a ride on his–"

"I think that's enough!" he laughed.

"Motorbike... I was gonna say motorbike..." she gave him a coy smile, "But I don't think my mum would ever slap anyone... she couldn't hurt a fly. My dad on the other hand... he's got a good heart. But if he thought _you_ were one of the reasons that I left home? He'd probably chase you out of the house with a rifle!"

The Doctor's eyes widened, "No, trips home for a while then?"

They laughed awkwardly and McKenzie searched for a change of subject, "I'm sure they don't like being chased like that." she said pointing to the pigeons.

"Why don't you ask them?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Well, I can speak many different languages. Pigeon being one of them"

"And what, now so can I...?"

"We've yet to learn what exactly the regeneration did to you... But if that much of me was transferred to you, I don't see why not."

"Well, what do I say?"

"Try this..." he whispered something in her ear.

"Ok..." she turned to a group of pigeons and cooed gently; the birds chirped and flocked towards her. She jumped and put her hands in front of her face. The Doctor laughed.

"Yes, alright. Very funny." she said as a large group of pigeons perched on every available part of her.

Some foreign tourists pointed, laughed and snapped a few photos with her while The Doctor could hardly contain himself. McKenzie rolled her eyes and pushed The Doctor into the fountain. The tourists left and she shooed the pigeons away. The Doctor sat up in the fountain and flopped his hair out of his face.

"Come on..." she put her hand out to him, he took it and pulled her in with him.

"Hey!" she laughed. He held her close and she placed her hand on his cheek.

"Ahem."

They looked up to see Jack stood looking over them.

"Oh, hello! Sorry–" The Doctor said. They looked around, they weren't in Trafalgar square anymore, they were in the Torchwood hub.

"You know, most people notice when they're being teleported. But don't worry, he has that effect on people." he winked at The Doctor and McKenzie.

"A warning would have been nice..." said McKenzie, "Where are we?"

"This is Torchwood Five. Underneath Trafalgar Square, operating out of the, uh... Café Nero..."

"Oh... ok." she got up and pulled The Doctor up with her, "You have a towel or anything?"

"Here." he said, handing them each a towel from his desk, "There's a hair dryer in the bathroom, just down there to your left, if you need it." he pointed out of his office.

"Thanks." she headed out and down the stairs.

Jack looked over The Doctor, "Had to wear a white shirt didn't you." he smiled, raising his eyebrow.

"Calm down, Captain..." he laughed as he wrapped the towel around his shoulders and dried his hair, "So, I take this to mean we're a little late?"

"Try a few weeks late"

"Ah... right"

"And what _were_ you two doing in the fountain?" he raised his eyebrow.


	2. Chapter 2

They heard footsteps rushing up to the office, Mickey Smith and Martha Jones ran in.

"We saw the TARDIS outside and came running!" said Mickey.

"We knocked on the door but no one was there... Did you know he was going to be here?" asked Martha.

"Yeah, where is he?"

"Right here." Jack smiled and pointed to the slightly soaking Doctor.

He waved to them, Martha looked confused and Mickey smiled.

"Has the teleport been dragging people through the fountain again?" he asked Jack, "We'll have to speak to Wayne when he gets back..." he turned to The Doctor and shook his hand, "Nice new skin boss, I bet the ladies like that one."

"Mickey the idiot, it's good to see you." He smiled and hugged him.

"You spoken to Rose and Jackie at all...?"

"No... Their world is sealed off, where it should be. She's got her Doctor though... their own TARDIS, by now. They're fine."

"That's not him..." said Martha looking worried, "Is everyone seeing what I'm seeing?"

"It is him, he's just regenerated since we last saw him." said Mickey.

She looked up at him a little apprehensively.

"Yeah, it's me." he said, smiling as he took off his tie just like he had done when they first met, "Like so." he rung the water out of it.

"Why do you look different...?" she asked.

But before he could answer, McKenzie came in, everyone turned to her and she froze on the spot, "Oh... sorry, am I interrupting something?" she asked.

"Not at all, McKenzie." said The Doctor, bringing her in, "Let me introduce Mickey Smith and Martha Jones."

McKenzie narrowed her eyes trying to figure out who they were, The Doctor's memories soon took over her, showing her exactly what she needed to see. Mickey Smith, the man in the van... Hacked into secure sights to fire a missile at 10 Downing Street to stop a Slitheen attack. Met 9th and travelled with 10th regenerations, had a short stay in a parrallel universe fighting the Cybermen. Martha Jones, Doctor turned UNIT Medic travelled with 10th regeneration, met Jack at the end of the universe and spent years travelling the world alone to spread word of The Doctor to stop The Master. Both fought for Earth at the Medusa Cascade, last seen as freelance agents. McKenzie inhaled sharply as she broke from her trance, voices from each memory echoed in the back of her mind... They soon faded and her breathing slowed to normal.

'Impressive...' She thought to herself.

"Smith-Jones, actually." Martha said showing him the wedding ring on her finger.

"Oh, congratulations!" he smiled.

"Yeah, I should thank you." said Mickey putting his arm around Martha, "Without you I would never have met her."

A computer beeped downstairs and Jack pressed a button on a separate wrist strap that brought up a new window, containing a video call in the main room.

"What's the time?" asked Martha.

"Twenty to Twelve" said Jack.

"It's early..."

Jack rushed down the stairs and stood in front of the video chat as Mickey and Marthal rushed down to their computers.

The Doctor and McKenzie stood in the office at looked at each other for a moment.

"We're late, you know." The Doctor said to McKenzie.

"Are we..." she said sarcastically.

"You'll get the hang of it eventually." He said a little smugly, "What was that, just now?" He asked, his tone changing to worry.

"Oh, nothing, I was just trying to remember who they were... from your memories."

"Right... Okay." The Doctor nodded, but he knew that something was wrong.

They followed the others into the main room.

Martha and Mickey sat at their desks and Jack was talking to a brown haired girl who was wearing both a bow-tie and a blazer with a white lab coat and thick rimmed glasses.

"Speak to me Osgood, tell me you've got good news!" Jack announced.

"You know me Jack, when do I ever call with good news?" she said, smiling.

"You never call just to say hello." he winked and she giggled.

"So we've been tracking your U.O for you and thought we should mention that it's a few hours ahead of the schedule you sent us."

"Why can things never go right around here?" he rolled his eyes and turned to The Doctor and McKenzie, beckoning them over to the video chat, "Actually Doctor it's a good time you chose to get here." said Jack looking over their computer screens.

"Is it really?" McKenzie asked returning The Doctor's smug look. The Doctor rolled his eyes as they joined Jack.

"Sorry... Doctor?" the girl on the video chat said, her eyes lighting up.

"Yes," said Jack, "Osgood, this is–"

They heard a little squeak come from the chat and Osgood frantically fumbling around her desk. She grabbed her inhaler and took a couple of deep breaths.

"Are you alright?" McKenzie asked.

"I'm fine–" she replied, a little strained, "It's just... Doctor... You've changed, _a lot_ since I last saw you"

"Oh! See I thought I recognised that name," he smiled, then his expression changed, "Wait, weren't you–"

Computers in the UNIT base beeped as well as Mickey and Martha's.

"We can catch up another time Doctor." she said, turning and speaking to her UNIT colleagues.

"Okay," said Jack, clasping his hands together and moving to observe Mickey's computer screen, "So we've been chasing this signal. _Something_ is orbiting Earth and it comes really close to the atmosphere right here on top of London. And by our calculations it should be hitting the edge of the atmosphere at about 2 o'clock today." Jack said heading to his desk.

"We were going to try and catch it with the teleporter when it started its decent." said Martha.

"But it's early, so we're going to have to catch it as soon as possible." added Mickey.

"Initial scans have shown that whatever it is, it is holding a massive amount of energy."

"And our simulations over here have found that if it hits the Earth in that condition it could do an untold amount of damage." Osgood said, as people around her rushed about.

"What do you need me for? Sounds like you have it all under control." said The Doctor.

"It would be a great help if you could help identify it. Because to be honest we have no idea what it is." replied Martha.

"For all we know it's some sort of bomb..." said Mickey.

"Alright, impact in 30 seconds, is everybody ready?" Jack shouted form his office.

"Teleporter primed," said Martha, "Targeting now."

Graphics popped up on the screen; a timer counting down from 30 and a representation of the objects trajectory and speed.

"Come on Martha," said Jack, "Get that thing locked on!"

"I can't it's not responding!" shouted Martha.

Mickey looked over her shoulder, "The things just out of reach we won't be able to get to it!"

"I'm sorry Martha but at this notice there's nothing UNIT can do!" Osgood shouted, reaching for her inhaler again.

As the counter ticked over to 5, The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the screen, the range of the teleporter went up. Martha typed commands furiously and the teleport locked on.

"We're cutting it close!" said Jack.

"Got it!" said Martha.

The object broke through the atmosphere at the same time the teleport pulled it out of space and beamed it into the hub.

 _A small child looked up at the sky. He thought he could see something. He dropped the ball he was playing with and stared into the sky. He saw a pinkish glow erupt past the clouds. It was falling, getting closer and closer to him. He stepped back and tried to run. He fell and looked round, the glow came close to him and he took a deep breath inhaling it. His eyes glowed red. The boy got up and picked up his ball, he crushed it between his hands and deflated it. He walked into his house and started crying. His mother came over to him._

 _"What's wrong sweetheart?" she asked._

 _"Daddy hit me." the boy said through tears as multiple bruises appeared on his face._

 _She gasped as she looked over her son. She held him tightly and turned to shout up the stairs_

 _"Stephen! Get down here now come and have a look at your son!"_

 _The boy's father ran down the stairs._

 _"What? What on earth's happened?" he asked._

 _"Like you don't know!" she pointed to the boy's face to bruises only she could see._

 _He frowned, "What he's fine?"  
_

 _"How dare you! How dare you hurt my son!"_

 _"What are you talking about?"_

 _The boy wriggled loose from his mother and tugged at his father's trouser leg._

 _"Mummy's been drinking again..." he whimpered._

 _He looked over to see multiple empty wine bottles littering the kitchen table and surrounding counters._

 _"Carol... You said you were sober! You promised me you weren't going to touch alcohol again, for Ben!"_

 _"How can you accuse me?"_

 _They argued loudly and aggressively and didn't notice their child leaving the house. He walked out into the street and grinned a sinister grin._


	3. Chapter 3

The Torchwood crew gathered around the object they had just beamed in. They cautiously eyed it as they took a step closer, none of them could think of something to say, they were each just waiting for something to happen.

"It's just a rock..." said Mickey.

The group sighed as the tension was broken.

"Are you sure you had the right co-ordinates?" asked Osgood.

"I know I did!" Martha went back to her computer, "I definitely had them set from a week ago, there's no way I could have picked up anything else."

Jack held a scanner over the rock, "Any sign of the energy is gone..." he said.

McKenzie and The Doctor shared a look, then shrugged at each other, still feeling a little out of the loop.

"How could it just be gone?" asked Osgood as she went over the data UNIT had collected.

The Doctor looked over the rock. He stared intently at it and sniffed it. It was still warm, but cooling rapidly. And smelt of nothing, not just the regular everyday smell of the air... but literally _nothing_.

"What if whatever it was carrying left, on its own...?" asked McKenzie.

Martha and Mickey exchanged concerned looks.

"We didn't think about the contents being sentient... could that be possible?" Martha turned to Jack.

"Oh dear..." he said.

"What?" asked Mickey.

"There was something like this before... Back in Cardiff. A comet crashed to Earth and it had a gas creature inside it that fed off..." his sentence trailed away.

"Fed off what?"

"Orgasmic... _energy_..." he mumbled, thinking back to the ordeal that was Gwen's first real mission.

"Whoa!" Martha, Mickey and McKenzie all exclaimed together.

The Doctor quickly stepped back from the rock, he laughed awkwardly "There's uh, nothing left in there..." he said.

"I could take a look at it?" said McKenzie.

"I don't know... that thing is ridiculously hot." said Mickey.

"It won't matter to me..." she gingerly touched the top of the rock with the tip of her finger then rested her palm on top, "See?"

"How are you doing that?"

"Maybe I could try and sense something?" she rubbed her chin in that quizzical way The Doctor usually would.

"What do you mean sense?" asked Martha.

"I'm empathic, if there is or was something sentient in there I might be able to sense a trace of it"

"I don't think that's a good idea..." said Jack "This thing, the previous thing, could take you over; like possession"

"So you're not human?" asked Martha.

"No... I'm not, does that matter?" McKenzie raised an eyebrow at Martha.

"No, no not at all." Martha shook her head, backing up a little.

"So, what do you think it is?" asked Mickey.

"It's definitely some kind of meteorite." said The Doctor, "But it's capable of holding an entity as it travels through space."

"It's weird... I'm getting something..." McKenzie closed her eyes and wobbled a little.

"I think that's enough..." The Doctor moved her away from the meteorite.

"But–" she protested.

"Not until we know more about it." he offered her a weak smile and she understood that he was only trying to protect her.

McKenzie leant on the wall of the hub while they boys stared at the rock, trying to will it to reveal its secrets.

"Captain Harkness?" Osgood asked.

"Os, we've been over this, it's just Jack. Or Captain if you prefer." he winked at her again and she blushed.

"I– I can get a squad mobilised for you if you think it's necessary. The threat of invasion–"

"We don't know anything yet, but we'll keep you posted. Anything that happens here will go straight to you, I promise. Ok sweet cheeks?" he grinned.

She blushed and giggled again, "I'm trusting you with this, but first sign of trouble you can't handle and Kate's authorised me to take over." she signed off.

Martha went and stood next to McKenzie on the other side of the hub, "I didn't mean to offend you..." she tilted her head apologetically.

"Oh gosh, not at all... it's just... I know I could find something but he worries about me so much."

"Oh... I'm sure he's got his reasons... you know him." Martha rolled her eyes.

"You travelled with him before... didn't you?"

"Well, we all have, at some point." she smiled and looked around at the rest of the new torchwood crew, "He was different then... but I can see now, it's still him inside"

"What was he like with you?"

"Oh he barely even noticed me... but I would have given anything for him to look at me once, the way he looks at you." they looked up to see The Doctor carefully checking on them, when he noticed them noticing him, he quickly turned away. Martha and McKenzie laughed, "And if he worries about you it only means he cares about you, he's seen so much, I'm sure he just doesn't want anything to happen to you"

"Yeah... I just wish he could see that I can take care of myself... and I mean... I know how much he cares about me." she smiled.

"Can you feel that then?"

"Mmhm, well... that and... other things..." she blushed a little and looked down at the floor.

"No!" she looked surprised, "You and him...?"

McKenzie nodded and she and Martha giggled together like school children.

The Doctor looked over at McKenzie and Martha, they waved at him and laughed again. He waved back nervously and turned to Mickey.

"Did I do something funny?" he asked.

Mickey laughed, "See, Boss, I've told you before. You don't bring the Mrs to meet the ex, even if the ex has moved on." he smiled proudly at Martha.

"What do you think they're talking about?" asked The Doctor.

"Anything, you name it, they're women." he laughed, "But by the way they're looking at us, I'd say it's pretty obvious."

 _A large man sat in a fast food restaurant. He ate his super-sized meal and left. He looked up in the sky and saw yellowish glow heading towards him. He took a deep breath and inhaled it. His eyes glowed yellow. He turned awkwardly and stomped back into the restaurant. He pushed people out of the way and went to the front of the queue._

 _"Oi, mate what are you doing? Get to the back of the line" one man stepped up and grabbed him by the shoulder. The large man stared at him angrily, his eyes wild. He shoved the man aside and he crashed through the glass of the front window. Shocked people screamed and quickly left the building, children cried and teenagers held their phones up at him and took videos._

 _The cashier was a tiny girl with short choppy brown hair and a name tag reading Elle, who only just made it up to the counter in platform trainers. She looked up at the large man who towered over her, making her seem even smaller in comparison._

 _"Make me food." the large man said, like he had only just realised he could speak._

 _She nodded, "Uh... w...what would you like?" her hands shook as she prepared to type in his order._

 _"Anything. I'm starving... Wasting away! Make me everything!"_

 _"H...how would you like to pay for that?"_

 _"Pay?" he angrily threw his wallet at her, "Just take that. Take it all! When will it be ready?!"_

 _"You'll have to wait a while sir–" she fumbled with the large man's wallet._

 _"Wait?! I can't wait!" he pushed past the barrier into the kitchen, he stuffed his face with anything that was ready, "More! Make me MORE!" he screamed at the kitchen staff, his mouth full of burgers and fries. Some ran, others backed away. The man grabbed the meat off of the grill and ate it the heat and oil barely singing his skin. He saw the deep fat fryer and ran towards it. He plunged his hands in and ate the scalding hot fries._

 _The cashier cowered under the desk as she frantically phoned the police._


	4. Chapter 4

"So, he has two hearts right...? How does that effect stamina...? And I mean, from a purely medical stand point of course, but is there anything else he has tw–"

"McKenzie?" asked The Doctor, intentionally interrupting them, "Could you come here a minute?"

She left Martha still giggling a little and walked over to The Doctor, "What's up?"

"We're trying to make a tracker from the signal we read before the meteor hit." said Jack, getting up from Mickey's desk, "Do you think you could try and hack into some servers for me?"

"Ok." she sat down at the desk and put on her glasses, "I don't see why you can't do this... I know you can."

"Well, I knew you could do it faster." he smirked.

She rolled her eyes and quickly typed away. Jack and The Doctor moved to Jack's office and The Doctor admired McKenzie in her glasses. He knew she didn't really need them, but it reminded him of a younger regeneration.

"So, what did you get up to?" asked Jack.

"Hm, huh?" he shook his head.

"You guys could have been gone for who knows how long, you had to have been doing something."

"We've only been gone for a few days." he shrugged.

"Can you tell him to stop staring at me... it's really distracting!" McKenzie shouted from her desk.

The Doctor looked very embarrassed and turned round to Jack who looked extremely interested.

"So that's what you were doing!" he smirked.

"Not the whole time..." he shuffled awkwardly.

"No, no it's fine, leaving me for the pretty girl again..." he raised his eyebrow at him.

"Jack..."

They heard McKenzie gasp.

"What?" they both asked, looking down from Jack's office.

She was blushing profusely, "Captain Jack Harkness you stop thinking that thought right now!" she yelled at him.

"What...?" he shrugged, "What else was I supposed to think?"

Mickey and Martha watched this exchange from the couch.

"This is unbelievable." said Martha.

"I'm just annoyed we don't have any popcorn." Mickey laughed.

"So, UNIT huh?" The Doctor asked Jack.

"Yeah, I ran into one Kate Stewart in a bar once, dynamite lady." Jack grinned, "Knows how to treat a man."

The Doctor laughed, "A good stern talking to I'd expect."

Jack nodded, "Yeah..." he looked embarrassed, "Anyway, I started asking questions... finally managed to get some answers and we started working together. We're the experts when numero uno isn't around." he pointed to The Doctor.

"And what about Osgood? Last time I saw her she was..."

"Dead?"

"Yeah..." he looked down at the floor, thinking back to how Missy had gotten to her.

"Well, there's quite a lot you don't know about what's been going on down here... Since you don't travel with a human anymore you don't really spend a lot of time here."

"And are you gonna tell me?" he asked, sounding concerned.

"Maybe over a drink?" he raised his eyebrows and grinned.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and laughed.

"Ok, I've found something..." said McKenzie "There are 4 separate traces of the energy... And they all went off in different directions..." she brought a map showing their trails up on the screen. Everyone gathered round "One went far off into the burbs; 41 Privet Street... another went to a fast food restaurant in the city. The third one a flat in Westminster. And the 4th one hasn't settled yet..."

"We have to get to these places as soon as possible," said Jack, "If it is the same as before containment is our top priority."

 _Malcolm David sat in his flat. He looked at his bookshelf, not a speck of dust and perfectly alphabetised. He could hear his mother walking around upstairs. He twitched. She was coming to his door. He sat down at his desk and stretched his mask over his face. She came through the door._

 _"Close the door behind you, mother, who knows what you might let in," he snapped._

 _A greenish glow floated into the room unnoticed by them._

 _"Malcolm please... I don't see why you can't just go out and meet some people!" his mother begged._

 _He took a deep breath in, "People are covered in germs I don't know why you would want me to get ill... you care about me don't you mother? Do you want me to get ill and die mother?"_

 _"Malcolm how could you say that?!"_

 _She saw a fly land on his shoulder, "Malcolm, there's a fly on your shoulder would you like me to hand you your disinfectant?"_

 _She watched as the fly crawled up her son's shoulder and into his ear._

 _"Malcolm!" she screamed._

 _A quiet buzzing sound filled the room._

 _"Is something wrong mother?" he blinked at her._

 _More flies flew into the room the buzzing became louder._

 _"Malcolm I'm going to go now..." she backed over to the door._

 _A faint smell lingered in the room, like mould but worse._

 _"You know mother..." he got up slowly and walked towards her, "I ought to thank you..."_

 _"You don't have to do that." she backed up against the wall. Bugs crawled down the walls around her, she jumped._

 _"Oh but I do. You prepared me for the dangers of this world. I'm a shut in because of you."_

 _"Oh Malcolm..." she trembled as her son advanced on her with a horde of insects that he appeared to be controlling._

 _A swarm of flies had gathered around him, the bugs crawled to his feet and up his legs._

 _"I'm finally going to see the world... I just need to remove the thing in my way..." he took her hand and she became incredibly ill. Her eyes blood shot, nose dripping blood, she coughed violently._

 _He grabbed her throat, slowly removed his mask and his mother screamed._

"Oh my god..." said Martha, looking at her phone.

"What's wrong?" asked Mickey, walking over to her.

"They've... they've found a body... Doug's just sent me the details..." passing her phone to Mickey.

"Doug?" asked The Doctor.

"He's one of ours, who works with the police force" said Jack.

"He's good for helping with cover ups" said Mickey.

"What is this then, a bigger and better torchwood eh? Working with others? I thought you didn't play nicely." The Doctor laughed.

"The earth has much more of a presence in this universe than people are willing to believe, if we don't work together things will fall apart." Jack replied very seriously.

"Right, we better get moving." said Martha, putting her jacket on.

"Who are we this time?" asked Mickey, looking through his collection of badges.

"I'd say CDC going by the look of the body."

McKenzie looked over to the meteor, "I know I can find something." she said to herself before heading over to it.

"McKenzie wait–" said The Doctor, catching her walking towards the meteor.

She defiantly placed her hand on the rock, "I can feel something... but it's faint..." she felt the rock carefully and placed her hand in a small opening, "Maybe if I– Ahh!" she writhed in pain like she was being electrocuted.

"McKenzie!" The Doctor ran to her.

"No stop!" she put her other hand out to stop him, her eyes were blood red, "I can see it... four beings... they've destroyed planets... oh you have no idea how much this hurts!" she dropped to her knees, still connected to the rock.

"Her hand is stuck!" said Jack, rushing towards them.

"We have got to get her out of there!" shouted The Doctor.

"Don't! There's more…" her eyes turned yellow, "They come to a world... they cause chaos and war... and sickness." her eyes turned a sickly green it looked as if things were crawling under her skin, she cried out in fear.

"Oh my god..." said Mickey, staring and unable to move.

"Martha, get the scanner from my desk!" Jack shouted.

"On it!" Martha ran up to Jack's office and grabbed the scanner, she came back down and held it up to McKenzie, "Oh my... They're cockroaches, actual _real_ roaches, crawling under her skin!"

"Well, what can we do?!" The Doctor ran to Martha.

"I, I don't–" Martha stuttered.

"No–N… No" McKenzie tried to speak, "There's nothing you can do–"

"How is she doing?" asked Jack, grabbing the scanner from Martha

"Her heart rate has sped right up– Wait, two hearts? Doctor... you mean she's?" asked Martha.

"Yes... and she's all I've got, you've got to do something!" The Doctor grabbed Martha by the shoulders.

Finally it stopped, the rock released her and she fell to the floor. She tried to pull herself up and The Doctor went to help her.

"Don't touch me..." she snapped, breathing heavily. She looked up at The Doctor, her eyes had turned completely black, "Death... Doctor... so much death..." a bloody tear dripped from both of her eyes, leaving a trail down her cheeks, "Everyone dies... they either kill each other or they get picked off... one by one... entire planets have been destroyed... slowly... everybody dies and they blow up the planet to ride the explosion onto the next one."

Her eyes returned to normal and she dropped back on to the floor and exhaled a golden stream of energy.

"McKenzie? McKenzie no..." he placed his hand on her cheek, she was out cold.

"Doctor you know what's coming next!" said Jack, "You've got to stand back!" he tried to pull him away, but he resisted, "Martha, get the TARDIS down here now."

She ran to her desk and typed as quickly as she could, the teleporter activated and the TARDIS appeared in the hub.

"Get her into the TARDIS, come on Doc!" Jack grabbed her legs while The Doctor grabbed her shoulders, "You two, see what you can find! Something, anything that will help us stop these guys!"

Mickey and Martha got to work. Jack and The Doctor carried McKenzie into the TARDIS and set her down on the bench. The Doctor knelt at her side and stroked her forehead. She exhaled more energy.

"Doctor..." said Jack, he placed his hand on The Doctor's shoulder.

He got up and stood beside Jack and they watched as her hands glowed. The glow slowly spread around her whole body and elevated her slightly. Jack and The Doctor stared in awe and confusion as she floated there for a moment. The expression of panic melted from The Doctor's face as she gently opened her eyes and turned to Jack and The Doctor, she gasped for air and dropped back onto the bench, the glow disappeared. She sat up and looked at The Doctor.

"What just happened?" she asked.

He smiled and ran to her, hugging her tightly, "Are you alright?" he asked, not really knowing what else to say. He had expected a full regeneration, but he was glad she was the same McKenzie.

"I'm fine, a little dizzy..."

The Doctor kissed her forehead and held her close. She rested her head on his chest and he stroked her hair.

"What happened? Normally there's an explosion...?" asked Jack, a little confused.

"I might go and lie down... you guys go and do the thing... I feel... sleepy." she yawned.

"Alright..." said The Doctor, smiling helplessly as she almost flopped over, "We'll be right outside, ok?" he held her cheek so she could look up at him and gazed into her eyes, still green and gold. He felt relieved.

"Yeah... that's cool..." she slumped back down on the bench.


	5. Chapter 5

_An old lady walked across the street, people angrily beeped at her as she was walking very slowly._

 _"Come on grandma!" someone yelled._

 _Two men ran over to her and helped her across to the other side of the road._

 _"Well thank you boys." she said with a smile._

 _"Yeah sure..." they stopped as she walked on and she heard them laughing, "And thank you..." they said looking through the old lady's purse._

 _The old lady sighed and kept on walking, the two men walked back across the road and were immediately hit by a car, she heard them screaming._

 _She smiled as her eyes turned black._

"It looks like the final trail has stopped, there's been a car crash... So I guess it's safe to say the death and destruction has started..." said Martha.

"Should we call UNIT?" asked Mickey.

"Right." said Jack, "You three go and visit the sites, see if you can find out what happened or any information on these guys, weaknesses or anything like that, anything that will help us stop them, I'm gonna stay here, keep an eye on things and get a message to UNIT, keep them on their toes in case anything get out of control."

"We'll bring a containment unit." said Martha.

"Good plan Martha, and only use your weapons if it's absolutely necessary, remember, they are still people."

Mickey and Martha went to leave, The Doctor looked hesitant.

"She'll be fine Doc. She's tough." said Jack, handing him an earpiece.

The Doctor left with Mickey and Martha.

"Keep in touch." Jack saluted to him.

Jack looked over to the TARDIS and grabbed the medical scanner, he went into the TARDIS and checked on McKenzie, she was fast asleep. He held the scanner up to her until it beeped, then left the TARDIS. Details showed up on the scanner's small screen, he placed the scanner in a slot next to his computer and the readings appeared on the big screen in his office.

It showed a full x-ray of her body, her two hearts beating steadily. It read that she was perfectly healthy like nothing had ever happened. It also read that she was a female of unknown origin and age and that she was pregnant.

Jack smiled.

 _The old lady, the large man, the shut in and the child had finally met up in person in a park._

 _"My children..." said the old lady, "It is good to be in full form again."_

 _"Can we start now mother?" begged the large man, "I'm so hungry! I need to–"_

 _"Not just yet, Famine... One of us has been causing trouble."_

 _"It was him mummy." the child pointed to the shut in._

 _"I know it was him, dear..."_

 _"You should punish him..." the child's eyes glowed darker red._

 _"But mother, I was just–" pleaded the shut in._

 _"Acting on the wishes of your host. Which is not how we do things... your disease could spread too early. And there won't be anyone left strong enough to fight in the wars."_

 _"Yeah!" said the child, "You'll ruin everything brother!"_

 _"Say's you! Creating unrest wherever you could! And you!" the shut in turned to the large man, who was becoming more and more uneasy, "You destroyed that restaurant."_

 _"I was hungry!" shouted the large man._

 _"Boys, boys... now... you listen to your mother. We were released much too early and have been exposed to far too much of this planets toxic atmosphere. We need our ship to survive and it was stolen by these... humans."_

 _"I will destroy them all!" screamed the child, "I will tear them apart, limb from limb until we get it back... Then carry on killing them!" he laughed maniacally._

 _"Soon... but first we have to take down a small group of–"_

 _"Easily..." scoffed the shut in, his eyes glowing a more sickly green as a cockroach crawled across his shoulder._

 _"No, not so easily. They know of us... I sensed it. One of them, she touched the ship and sensed our energies. She could be our downfall."_

 _"Ooh... what are we going to do?" whined the large man._

 _"Go with your brother, Pestilence... create a distraction for them. War and I will take the ship back"_

"How are you guys doing?" asked Jack.

"I'm at the house." said Mickey, "A couple are fighting inside, I'm heading in."

"Doug's handling the police and the crowds, I'm going to have a look at the body." said Martha, putting on protective clothing.

"Are you sure you're not just sending me to get food?" asked The Doctor standing outside the restaurant.

Jack laughed, "No, a cashier called the police a while ago but they've decided they have more pressing matters."

"Alright, I'll go and talk to her, but you're on your own if someone asks for fries."

"I could go for fries." said Mickey.

The Doctor sighed and headed inside, the place was empty.

"Hello...?" he asked. He heard someone whimpering from behind the counter. He hopped over and had a look around and found a tiny cashier hidden underneath.

"You're alright now." he placed his hand on her shoulder and helped her up, "I'm Detective Inspector John Smith." he held up his psychic paper showing her a badge and ID, "Do you think you could tell me what happened here?"

"There was this big guy– he came in a bought a meal like anyone else– but then– he just went crazy– just started demanding things and he threw his wallet at me!" she thrust the wallet to The Doctor's hands, "Then he ate all the burgers off the grill– then..." she shuddered, "He put his hands in the deep fat fryer! It was horrible!"

"Don't worry, he's gone now... just uh, go home and take the week off." he smiled. The cashier got up and left very quickly.

The Doctor looked into the deep fryer, the oil was stained red.

"No fries then..." said The Doctor. He jumped up and sat on the counter to look through the wallet.

"Alright, alright, I'm leaving!" Mickey shouted as he was bullied out of the house.

"Something wrong Mickey?" asked Jack.

"So this couple Stephen and Carol Tench, they were having an argument and now half the street is arguing with them, over the fence and out in the street. They didn't even notice their kid got up and left."

"Oh god... there's a kid involved?" asked Jack.

"Looks like..."

"Martha, you found anything yet?"

"Yeah... it's looks like some sort of outbreak. This woman has so many diseases, all at once!"

"Is she contained?"

"The whole street has been cut off, all the houses evacuated and they're checking now... but somehow I think it's localised to just this flat... It's strange."

"What's it like in there?"

"Very... clean... Neighbours say the guy who lived here was a complete hypochondriac."

The Doctor laughed.

"Something funny?" asked Jack.

"It just tickles me that these creatures, these gas things... have a sense of irony."

"What?" asked Mickey.

"Well, this thing, spreads sickness right? And it takes a hypochondriac as a host? What else did McKenzie say...? Wars, chaos, pain, death... Oh, I get it... that's clever. You humans and your stories. It amazes me how far you can reach, it really does"

"What are you on about?"

"No, he's right..." said Martha "They're like the horsemen... War... Pestilence... Death?"

"What like, the apocalypse?"

"It's a good cover, I'll give them that." said Jack.

"They come to a planet and destroy all the life on it, then blow it up. Seems pretty apocalyptic to me." said Martha.

"So have you guys got anything?"

"Nothing here..." said Mickey, "It's as if the kid just vanished and this street is breaking into a war." he ducked someone's punch, "Everyone's gone mental!"

"I've only got a wallet." said The Doctor.

"I think I've got something..." said Martha, "It's not much... but it seems off. It's a trail of dead bugs leading from an alley behind the flat... If this guys flat was so clean, how did they get in? Plus it looks kind of fresh, like they only just died now. The rest of this all looks like it happened a few hours ago I'm going to follow it, see what turns up."

"It's a stretch, but it could be something, you two meet up with Martha and Doctor, hang on to that wallet it might come in handy."

"On my way." said Mickey.

"You're loving this aren't you Jack..." said The Doctor.


	6. Chapter 6

Martha cautiously headed down an empty alleyway. Large bins lined the sides of the apartment walls as Martha crept around each corner. Foot prints started to appear. Green and oozing puddles in the shape of smart brogues. She choked a little at the smell.

"I'm close, where are you?" Mickey asked, his voice making her jump.

Martha looked down at her tracker, "I'm close…" she whispered, looking around her surroundings.

"I'm catching up–" The Doctor added.

They were each heading down similar looking alleys in a large estate. They were getting closer to a small open space between two tower blocks.

Suddenly someone screamed. Martha raised her weapon and ran towards the noise. She came to the opposite end of the small open area as Mickey, two men were laughing at a girl digging through bags of rubbish and they had them surrounded.

"Hey!" Martha yelled, she and Mickey held their weapons up at the men and The Doctor ran in from a third alleyway to help the girl.

"It's alright, just run. Get out of here," The Doctor said, pulling her away from the garbage, "Maybe to a hospital!" he shouted after her as she ran off.

"What was that for, we were having fun!" said the shut in, folding his arms and glaring at The Doctor.

"You're Malcolm Davis aren't you? You killed your own mother!" Martha said, in disgust.

"It's not him, Martha, it's something else inside." said The Doctor, holding his hand up at her.

"But I only did what Malcolm wanted me to." he tilted his head and stared at Martha.

"Why are you wearing that mask?" she asked.

"I can remove it if you like..." he reached up for the mask and large bug fell out of his sleeve "Oh, please excuse me..." he grinned.

The bug quickly scuttled towards Martha and she instinctively squished it with her foot.

"How dare you!" he ran towards Martha and she stepped back.

"I'll shoot!" she shouted, raising her gun at him.

The shut in smirked and stood right in her line of fire. He reached his hand out to her and she swayed dizzily. Mickey watched the effect he was having on Martha, his mind raced and he fired stopping the shut in right before his hand brushed Martha's.

He turned to face Mickey, his eyes glowing a very sickly green, "Now that wasn't very nice..." he said gravely.

Martha ran to Mickey and the shut in just stared, there seemed to be things crawling and wigging underneath his clothes, no blood leaked from his wounds but it looked as if something else was about to start pouring out. It was only a matter of time.

The Doctor couldn't take it anymore, watching them act like this… He felt bad for being so absent, leaving the Earth to fight its own battles no more. He'd claimed this planet was under his protection and dammit it was going to stay that way.

"If you just stop what you're doing..." said The Doctor, "If you just leave this planet, I can–"

"Leave?" asked the large man, "Why would we want to leave? This planet is just stuffed, I could eat forever!"

"I'm giving you a chance." He replied through gritted teeth.

"A chance to what?" asked the shut in.

"A chance to leave this planet in peace."

The shut in laughed, "Peace? Do you really think this planet is in any kind of peace? And besides, if you're giving us a chance to leave... What could you possibly do if we don't?"

"I'll stop you."

The two men laughed.

"How are you going to stop us?" asked the large man.

"I'll find a way. I always do, no matter what I won't let you destroy this planet. I am The Doctor and this planet is under _my_ protection!"

"Oh I'm scared, I really am!" The large man mocked, "You talk big words, but I've never heard of you."

"I'm going to enjoy watching you all destroy yourselves." said the shut in as small bugs began to pour from his wounds. It was as if he was completely made up of the tiny creatures, his body collapsed entirely and began to spread across the floor.

"Oh my god..." said Mickey, eyes widening in fear.

McKenzie sat up quickly, she thought she heard shouting but realised she was still alone in the TARDIS.

"This planet is under _my_ protection." she heard The Doctor's voice inside her head.

"Doctor..." she said.

She ran to the console and frantically pressed buttons, she flipped the large lever down, but nothing happened. She tried to remember what exactly The Doctor had told her.

"Ugh... come on! I did everything you told me t–" she turned and was face to face with herself, "Ah–!"

"It would appear that you are trying to pilot me... I'm afraid I cannot allow that."

"Come on not clones again... Sorry what– who are you?"

"I am the TARDIS voice visual interface. I'm programmed to select the image of a person you esteem. Of several billion such images in my database, this one–"

"Oh please, don't give me that!"

The hologram almost raised its eyebrow, then flickered and changed into The Doctor with his shirt off.

McKenzie gasped "I knew you were jealous!"

"I am not jealous. I am a voice interface."

"Please... I can feel it, you forget I'm an empath! Now can you stop being silly, we need to get to The Doctor!"

The hologram disappeared.

"Thank you..." she shouted, throwing her arms up in the air.

McKenzie pushed the lever up again and the console sparked, shocking her and burning her fingers.

"Ah!" she held her head as a sharp pain ripped through her mind.

"That's right. You are an empath aren't you" she snapped, almost uncontrollably.

"Wait, you're in my head. How are you in my head?!"

"TARDISes use a psychic interface. By way of genetic transfer, I now have sample of your DNA." she poked the burn on her finger and eyed it closely.

"Owch!" McKenzie said.

"I can now home directly in on your genetic pattern. Now say one had a strong enough connection to a certain TARDIS _and_ abilities like yours. Because you are able to sense me, it is possible for me to achieve communication. With enough... force."

"I don't understand why you're doing this? Ow! What did I ever do to you...?"

The pain stopped and McKenzie dropped to the floor. She held herself up on the edge of the console.

"Oh..." she ran her hand along the console "I get it... it wasn't me... it's you... it's always you!" she got up and walked around "I can't believe I didn't see it before... I... I'm sorry... After we're all gone... it's you, you and him and it always has been. Then I come along and–" she turned quickly.

"You stole my thief!" she turned back around.

"I didn't mean to!"

"But you did, like you were always going to because it's what you were made for!"

"I don't know what you mean by that, but I'm trying to have a moment with you here!"

"He'd always come back to _me_ when his toys broke, but then he changed you so he could keep you forever!"

"He didn't mean to..."

"But he did... and now he's got you... now he can talk to you... he can kiss you–" she gasped "He can _bite_ you–"

"I don't know _what_ you think we've been up to..."

"Of course I know. I know what's happened. I know what's going to happen. Phoenix Pandora that's what you'll call her."

"The last thing I want to do is take him away from you. He was always yours... But don't you think he deserves someone too?"

She gasped, the TARDIS was silent.

"Oh look at that I made a TARDIS go silent..." she turned and sighed.

"Neither of us can have him if you don't stop them."

The lever flipped itself and the TARDIS started up. McKenzie smiled as she flew the TARDIS to The Doctor.

"We've got everything under control at the moment Os, just make sure you've got a team around just in case" Jack said, he looked up as he heard the TARDIS dematerialise.

"Is that the Doctor again?" Osgood asked, blushing slightly.

"No, I think something's wrong. I'll call you back ok?" he ended the call, "McKenzie?" he ran downstairs and the TARDIS was gone. "Damn..." he heard the door activate as someone entered the hub.

He crept around the desks and saw an old lady and a small child, their eyes were black and red.

"How silly of them to leave such a place unguarded." she said.

"Guarded by dead people you mean." The child giggled maniacally.

Jack sighed, he held back his anger as he realised what that meant. Anyone in the café upstairs… they were aware of the risks when they got the job, they were trained UNIT agents… but he never expected it.

"We can take the ship and destroy this place" the child laughed "Wait... there's someone here..."

"Calm yourself child. There is no mortal here..."

Jack thought for a moment and slowly crept up to the child. He grabbed him by the throat and held him up in the air, "Maybe no mortals, but you've not met me. Hi, I'm Captain Jack Harkness." he winked. He covered the child's nose and mouth with his hand.

The boy screamed and struggled.

"Not my son!" she stared Jack down, black smoke leaked from her and burrowed its way into Jack, he twitched painfully.

"What? Why can't I kill you!" she yelled.

"Can't kill what can't die..." he strained. Jack let go of the boy as a pink glow left his body. He coughed and managed to breathe then stared up at the glow. Jack placed him back on the floor.

"Run kid." he said. He nodded and hid under a desk.

"No... War... No!" yelled the old lady, looking up at the dying light.

The pink glow faded in the hub and the old lady glared at Jack.


	7. Chapter 7

The TARDIS materialised beside The Doctor and McKenzie stepped out.

"Right." She said, "Who needs rescuing?"

"McKenzie!" shouted The Doctor.

She just managed to catch the shut in dissolving into a pile of clothes. Roaches poured out in a small tidal wave covering the floor.

"Whoa. What did I miss?" she asked.

The bugs crawled over to them and up their ankles, they tried to squish as many as they could.

"Um, little help here!" shouted Martha.

"Oh! Uh, what about this?!" she ran back into the TARDIS and took out a can of bug spray.

"Not really gonna help!" shouted Mickey.

"Okay… Wait right there!" she ran into the TARDIS again.

Martha, Mickey and The Doctor kept trying to flick the seemingly never ending stream of roaches off of them, but they just kept crawling up their legs, holding them in place. The large man laughed as he looked hungrily over each of them them.

"Everyone! Think insulating thoughts!" McKenzie shouted as she dived from the TARDIS to the pile that used to be the shut in, where all the bugs were still streaming from. She held her broken wristband to the pile as bolts of electricity charged from it shocking and killing all the bugs.

Micky and Martha joined The Doctor and McKenzie as they brushed the last of the dead bugs off. They started to dissolve into a green sludge that stained the ground.

McKenzie sighed, and wiped her brow. The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her, as he offered her his hand to help her up. She shrugged and twitched slightly as electricity flickered through her singed hair.

The large man stared at the stains on the floor, "You killed my brother..." he shouted "You'll pay for this!"

"What are you gonna do?" Mickey laughed, "Eat us?"

"No... but that is a good idea... I'll make _her_ eat you." he pointed at Martha, she shuddered and shook her head. She looked up at Mickey with an intense, crazed hunger in her eyes.

"Babe...?" he backed up. She screamed and tackled him, clawing and trying to bite him.

"And as for you... Girl with your blue box... I'm going to make your lover tear you apart... then I'll let him go just long enough for him to see the mess that he's made." he pointed at The Doctor and he struggled like he was trying to fight something off.

"Doctor!" McKenzie shouted, "Come on Doctor... You can fight it!"

He gritted his teeth and fought hard.

"Come on!"

He stopped and looked up at McKenzie. The large man laughed.

"Doctor...?" McKenzie suddenly became very timid, she backed away slightly.

The Doctor was breathing heavily and covered in sweat, slowly he walked toward McKenzie.

"I... I need you, McKenzie... Can't you see that?" he looked up at her almost like it was an apology for what he was about to do. He ran towards her and pinned her against the TARDIS.

"Doctor stop!" she screamed.

He kissed her, hungrily and violently. She tried desperately to kick him away but he was too strong. He laughed as he watched her squirm, letting go for a moment he pushed her and pinned her to the ground, ripping her shirt and biting her neck.

"I can't..." he breathed like he was trying to break through his loss of control.

She squirmed trying to fight off his strength and managed to knee him in the stomach.

"Why do I have to do this–" McKenzie struggled and activated her wristband again, shocking herself and The Doctor just enough for her to flip him off of her. She panted and her fingers to his temple, begging for her plan to work.

He passed out and she rolled off of him. Breathing heavily trying to get over that moment she got up off the floor and ran to Martha and Mickey. She pulled Martha off of Mickey and put her hand on Martha's forehead, knocking her out as well.

"I am _so_ glad I am able to do that. Never tried it before now... Get them into the TARDIS." McKenzie said, Mickey did so.

McKenzie turned to the large man, she looked up through her messed up fringe and stared into his eyes.

"D...d...don't come any closer..." he said stepping back, "It's you... you're the downfall!" he panicked looking around for an exit. He took a deep breath and exhaled a yellow glow that disappeared into the air, the large man dropped to the floor. McKenzie ran to his side.

"Awh come on, I didn't even get to do the: _I'm giving you a warning_ speech!"

Martha woke with a start, she looked around and saw McKenzie with the large man, he was convulsing and foaming at the mouth. She ran to join her.

"What's happening, what can I do?" she asked.

"He's having a fit or something I don't know what to do!" McKenzie said.

"He's choking... the stuff this guy has eaten in the last 12 hours is way more than any normal human could take..."

The large man stopped breathing, his eyes bulged from his head.

"What do we do with him...?" asked McKenzie.

The Doctor dropped the wallet on his chest. McKenzie looked up at him a little frightened.

"Nothing much we can do right now..." said Martha, "I'll contact Doug, see what he can do and maybe UNIT can help with clean up. But we should get back to the hub."

McKenzie knelt on the floor and sighed, The Doctor could tell she was angry about losing someone… two people. But after what the creatures had done, there was no saving them. He went to help McKenzie up but she didn't take his hand, she got up and held herself defensively as they headed into the TARDIS.

Jack stood face to face with the old lady, they turned to see the TARDIS materialise in the hub.

"What is this?" The old lady stepped back, "What are you doing?"

The Doctor stepped out with McKenzie, Mickey and Martha, they pointed their guns at the old lady.

"You." She pointed to The Doctor "What did you do to my sons?!"

"They're gone. It's just you left now." said The Doctor, staring into her eyes.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you all where you stand?"

"Because we're the ones pointing a gun at you." Mickey snarled.

The Doctor sighed at Mickey, breaking his intense stare, "Don't say–"

The old lady waved her hand at them and their guns pulled away, Mickey and Martha held on but couldn't fight. They pointed their guns at each other.

"See this is why I don't bother with guns... they always make things worse." Said The Doctor "Just leave this planet, we'll let you go. Get in your ship and fly away, no need to harm anything else. Because if you do, I will find you and I will stop you."

"What makes you think you could stop me?" she clutched her side in pain.

"Because your body is dying and the atmosphere on this planet is going to kill you."

"Just go, there's nothing for you here." said McKenzie.

"Oh, but there is... Come here dear child..." she beckoned to McKenzie but she stood her ground, "I said, come here." She pulled McKenzie towards her. "You are the one who read the ship aren't you? I sensed it. That hunk of rock is passed it's time... I need a more fitting vessel, and you dear have provided the key." She lifted the TARDIS key up from McKenzie, the loop in the chain tightening around her neck, "You are much stronger than you know... You, so young and so _full_ of life. A fitting host for death herself..." she grabbed hold of McKenzie's throat and pulled her in close. They both screamed as a black smoke drained from the old lady into McKenzie. They dropped to the floor, Mickey and Martha dropped their guns and ran to them.

"She's dead..." said Martha leaning over the old lady.

"McKenzie...?" asked The Doctor placing his hand on her shoulder. She laid there still for a moment. Her eyes snapped open and she grabbed him by his throat.


	8. Chapter 8

McKenzie stood up, lifting The Doctor off of the ground, her eyes turned completely black.

"Oh yes... This is much better! So strong... I have the ship and the body. This is fantastic... Now who should I kill first...? I could snap your necks one by one... or force you to watch each other–"

The feeling of the old woman inside her head, it was agonizing. Similar to when the TARDIS forced her way in… but this was different. There was no sense of familiarity, just pain and anger… it was much harder to overcome… but she had to. The old woman forced her to stare directly into The Doctor's eyes as she choked the life out of him. She felt her hearts pounding, then suddenly she felt an extra presence. A feeling she'd felt before, her TARDIS key burned against her chest and the burns on her fingers throbbed. She felt stronger and realised why. There was someone else present in her mind, someone who wanted to save The Doctor just as much as she did… She had to act fast.

"No!" McKenzie shouted, "I'm going to start with you."

Her eyes returned to green and gold, they glowed brighter than before and she dropped The Doctor. She stood back from everyone. She felt silly having to sacrifice herself again… But she knew what the TARDIS was trying to do. Her hands glowed and she closed her eyes, she screamed as black smoke and golden light rushed out from her hands and head. She felt each of her cells changing, but she didn't feel different all she could feel was the corruption from the old woman being expelled.

When it finally stopped, she fell to the ground and The Doctor caught her.

"There's the explosion..." said Jack.

He, Mickey and Martha watched as the black smoke disappeared into thin air, returning the hub to normality.

Jack took the scanner and checked over McKenzie, he checked the scanner's screen it showed nothing had changed, he let out a little sigh of relief.

"Is she ok?" asked Martha, looking over his shoulder.

"She's fine." he replied, quickly closing the scan.

McKenzie opened her eyes and looked up at The Doctor.

"Did I do it...? Am I still me?" she said sleepily.

"Yes, and yes..." he smiled, "How many times are you going to do this to me...?"

"A couple more... tops." She grinned. They laughed and he helped her up. She leaned on him and he protectively put his arm around her, he looked down at her slightly ripped clothes, her various scrapes had been healed… but the evidence of his acts were still there.

The small child got up from underneath the desk, he'd been hiding there and watching the whole exchange, "That. Was. Amazing!" he shouted.

The Doctor and McKenzie watched from the TARDIS as the small child waved goodbye and ran back to his house. His street had calmed down and everyone was apologising to each other for things they didn't remember doing.

"So, that trip we promised you...?" asked The Doctor, wiggling an eyebrow at Jack.

"Ready when you are." Jack smiled.

"Brilliant." He turned to Martha and Mickey, "You're welcome to join us?"

"Oh no, that's ok boss." Said Mickey, "We've got a bit of work to do anyway, and we can't just leave the hub to Wayne."

"Yeah, who knows what would happen!" Martha laughed, "And besides, it just seems strange to me, it's not the _you_ I remember."

The Doctor tried not to seem too hurt, but McKenzie could feel it, she stood at his side and smiled, reassuringly.

"Well..." he shrugged "I suppose it has been a while since I saw you."

"Sorry," Martha realised her mistake, "Maybe another time?" she smiled.

They said their goodbyes and left the TARDIS.

"I'm just going to talk to the kids' family, you know..." Jack took out a box of _compound B-67_ , "Make sure they stay out of trouble and don't leave without me!" he left the TARDIS.

The Doctor turned to McKenzie, it now being just them in the TARDIS again.

"I'm sorry... if I hurt you." he indicated the rip in her shirt, barely being able to make eye contact with her, "You know I would never–"

"I know..." she smiled weakly, "Just that feeling... I've never felt anything like that before... it scared me."

The Doctor looked down at the floor.

"But... it wasn't you... I know it wasn't." She hugged him, "And the feelings I get from you are..." she looked him in the eyes, "They're indescribable." she smiled.

He stroked her cheek and smiled back.

"So, you flew the TARDIS." he said.

"Yeah... not without getting an earful first..." she shrugged.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I'm still not entirely sure how... but she spoke to me."

"No! How did you do it?"

"She said with a strong connection and my empathy–"

"Of course... the psychic interface mixed with your abilities. If you could feel the TARDIS thinking you could theoretically have a conversation with her. That's fantastic!" he looked ecstatic, "What did you talk about?"

McKenzie saw the voice interface hologram over The Doctor's shoulder. Again it was him without a shirt. She didn't want to tell The Doctor how the TARDIS has basically forced her to regenerate. She knew it was the right thing to do at the time, but she didn't want The Doctor to worry.

"Oh you know... girl stuff." she laughed awkwardly.

The Doctor went to turn around, but McKenzie hugged him tightly, he didn't really understand why but he held her close. McKenzie saw the hologram almost roll its eyes as it flickered away.

Jack left the house after he made sure the family were comfortable, he headed over to the TARDIS but a woman bumped into him.

"Sorry!" she said, slightly turning to him as she carried on down the road.

"That's alright..." he said but she was already quickly walking away. Jack put his hands in his pockets and went to walk back to the TARDIS, but he stopped and pulled out an envelope, it must have been her that put it there. He turned but she was gone, completely gone. Not just gone round a corner gone but totally and completely _gone_. He thought about what she looked like, he had only seen her for a second but he definitely noticed what she looked like. He always noticed.

She was wearing a long black hooded cloak, hiding her face completely, but it didn't cover her glowing golden eyes.

He opened the envelope, inside was a note and a folded red napkin. The note read ' _make sure The Doctor finds this_ '. The napkin read ' _when you work it out with her_ ', with a date and some coordinates. He put them both back in his pocket and wondered who the woman could be, and where she could have gone. All he thought is that he would find out, if The Doctor got the message.

Jack came back in to the TARDIS and saw McKenzie letting go of The Doctor. She cleared her throat awkwardly and turned to Jack.

"Right then shall we get moving?" he asked.

"Take her away, _Captain._ " The Doctor said to McKenzie. She rolled her eyes as the lever flipped itself and the TARDIS carried them off into space.


End file.
